Up-and-comers in the music world

Here are five 2010 albums by artists we guarantee you’ll be hearing from again.

"The Apothocary," Leland Sundries

It’s tempting to describe Leland Sundries as Leonard Cohen by way of Uncle Tupelo, but it may be better to just dispense with the comparisons, and give them credit for being a wholly original outfit that released one of the most exciting musical debuts of the year — it’s melancholy, funny, romantic, fresh and nostalgic, sometimes all at once.

For the first album from a band that’s only been around for a year, “The Apothecary,” a five-song EP, is amazingly fully formed; all that’s missing is a side two. The band may want to get on that — what the world needs now is a full-length LP from folk singers who seem to be living in the same twisty, complicated world as the folks they’re singing about.

"House of Doors," Amy Petty

What the world also needs now is a new chanteuse, and I nominate Amy Petty: in turns sultry, intelligent and biting, she imbues her sophomore release with more heart than most pop musicians would dare to dream of. Sexier than Sarah McLachlan and most of her Lilith Fair brethren (sistren?), Petty’s also as smooth as Sade, with a falsetto that can crack open your heart.

Yes, there’s a lot of sadness on “House of Doors,” from the self-doubting heroine of “Amelia” to the “battered angel” on “Get Over It” (as in “I’ll never …”). “I don’t do optimism,” she sings on “A Promise’s Demise,” the album’s opening track, but I disagree: the strength behind the words keeps these songs from ever becoming laments. To the contrary, they paint a picture of resilience and beauty.

"God of Malfunction," The Contrast

The Contrast have actually been around since 1999, but their latest album is their first of new material on the Wicked Cool label, and they’ve found a winning formula with David Reid’s laconic vocals, the band’s exuberant backup singing and an unabashed pop sensibility planted somewhere between the Spencer Davis Group and The Knack.

The album is worth hearing just for the incredibly infectious trio of songs that kick it off: “Underground Ghosts,” “Coming Back to Life” and “Take Me Apart,” a rave-up that sounds like Freddy Cannon covering Cheap Trick’s “Dream Police.” The momentum of the album’s first half doesn’t quite keep up all the way through, with a few tracks that seem to be going for moody but just come out murky. Still, even if “God of Malfunction” may not be the most sophisticated album you’ll hear this year, it may be the one most likely to help save rock ’n’ roll.

"Nikki," Nikki Yanofsky

Wait — put down that Miranda Cosgrove album! Not that the “iCarly” star is the devil or anything (although she may be), but there are more nourishing musical options for your finicky tween, and Yanofsky’s album floats right to the top of the list.

The 16-year-old has a jazzy voice and a great range that belie her age, be-bopping through interpretations of classics like “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “I Got Rhythm” with more spirit and appeal than 100 Cosgroves or Selena Gomezes could hope to muster. Some of the other tracks are strictly Lite-FM filler, but the swing numbers hold water — while they won’t make you forget Ella Fitzgerald, they might make your 11-year-old curious enough to sit through one of Ella’s “Songbook” albums — and that’s no mean feat.

"Myth of the Heart," Sahara Smith

Something tells me that Sahara Smith is capable of being down home — she may even have a “Down at the Twist & Shout” inside her somewhere. But for now the 20-year-old country balladeer is sticking with lilting, luscious Emmylou Harris-style country confections, and she does it with an amazing amount of maturity and grace, not to mention a stunning soprano that will give you chills, even during the summer in Texas.

A sense of place is one of the most remarkable things about “Myth of the Heart” — so many young artists seem to be coming from some abstract pop wilderness, but Smith feels tied to the deserts and plains of Dallas, Houston and their surroundings. And despite her light touch, her Texas comes off convincingly as a dark place, full of secrets and bleak liaisons. “There’s a quiet hunger I have curled myself inside,” she sings on the opening track, “Thousand Secrets,” and she makes you want to curl up there with her.

Peter Chianca writes the Gatehouse Media music blog Blogness on the Edge of Town (blogs.wickedlocal.com/springsteen). Contact Peter at pchianca@cnc.com.